Doppelmayr
Higher and higher

Doppelmayr, the world leader in cable car transportation, does business in more than 40 countries. Its main activities in North America focus on ski lifts in ski resorts. Doppelmayr holds a very large market share in this sector. For over 13 years, CDC has acted as an external consulting firm tasked with the development of marketing initiatives across customer service and sales departments for Doppelmayr’s Canadian, US and French subsidiaries.

CDC was initially contracted to produce traditional printed sales tools and now supports Doppelmayr in the modernization of its technological and communications tools.

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Seasonal promotional campaign

At the end of every ski season, Doppelmayr launches its big Spring Sale. This Vente 15/15 promotion offers customers discounts and savings on volume orders between February 15 and March 15.

For the past 10 years or so, CDC has developed and executed the Vente 15/15 communications plan. Promotional content, which was previously delivered to customers via customized mailings, is now distributed via e-mail and customers are directed to an online ordering portal, ensuring comprehensive traceability of interactions.

At the end of the campaign, a customer satisfaction survey is sent to all customers, with a view to improving the Vente 15/15 tools and processes.

E-commerce solution

Analysis

In order to differentiate itself from competitors, Doppelmayr assessed the suitability of rolling out an online ordering system that would enable customers to quickly obtain a costing estimate for the purchase or replacement of parts.

CDC began by analyzing two scenarios:

+ development of a tailor-made solution whose transaction process system would be fully integrated into the existing Doppelmayr system
+ installation of an existing solution that already offers many of the required features.

Given that, in the medium term, the company plans to integrate all current systems (including inventory management and online transactions), the deployment and integration of an existing system was adopted.

Deployment

CDC deployed an OpenCart solution for Doppelmayr Canada, Doppelmayr USA and Doppelmayr France that offers an extensive range of parts and components (over 8,000 items) for online purchase. Various advanced features have also been integrated, a parts calculator that determines the number of parts required for maintenance of each piece of equipment, for example.

Gateway to the parent company in Austria

Doppelmayr North-America reports to the parent company in Austria and so wanted to create a link between the North-American and Austrian tech infrastructures. CDC developed a gateway for exchange of information between the two environments, in collaboration with the local Austrian supplier.

Project results

The online ordering system was deployed initially in Canada and the United States and allowed Doppelmayr’s parent company to validate whether the target market was ready for and receptive to this type of tool. After three years, the number of online orders has more than tripled! Customers appreciate the flexibility and autonomy offered by this platform, in the knowledge that they will still receive assistance from the Doppelmayr team.

3x

Creation of a database for security bulletins and customer newsletters

As an industry leader, Doppelmayr wanted to adopt best practices in sending newsletters and security bulletins to customers. Doppelmayr began publishing these bulletins in 1969, but they were not easily accessible. The development of an online database was an interesting solution.

CDC created and developed this online architecture over a 3-month period and deployed a system that is fully integrated with the e-commerce solution already used by customers.

Thanks to this system, Doppelmayr now issues bulletins and distributes them with a few clicks of a mouse. The group also collects statistical data and can follow up with clients who have not viewed the newsletters. Customers now have 24/7 access to 40 years of information documented in over 800 newsletters. The robust database architecture will allow this online solution to evolve for many years.